such class, and the copies of said lists shall be then examined and compared; and in case any person shall be elected by a majority of all the votes, the selectmen or assessors shall deliver the certified copies of such lists to the person so elected, within ten days next after such election; and the clerks of towns and plantations respectively shall seal up copies of all such lists and cause them to be delivered into the Secretary's office twenty days at least before the first Wednesday in January annually; but in case no person shall have a majority of votes, the selectmen and assessors shall, as soon as may be, notify another meeting, and the same proceedings shall be had at every future meeting until an election shall have been effected: Provided, That the Legislature may by law prescribe a different mode of returning, examining and ascertaining the election of Representatives in such classes.

SEC. 6. Whenever the seat of a member shall be vacated by death, resignation, or otherwise, the vacancy may be filled by a new election.

SEC. 7. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker, Clerk and other officers.

SEC. 8. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment.

ARTICLE IV.-Part Second.

SENATE.

SEC. 1. The Senate shall consist of no less than twenty, nor more than thirty-one members, elected at the same time, and for the same term, as the Representatives, by the qualified electors of the districts, into which the State shall from time to time be divided.

SEC. 2. The Legislature, which shall be first convened under this Constitution, shall, on or before the fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-one, and the Legislature at every subsequent period of ten years, cause the State to be divided into districts for the choice of Senators. The districts shall conform, as near as may be, to county lines, and be apportioned according to the number of inhabitants. The number of Senators shall not exceed twenty at the first apportionment, and shall at each apportionment be increased, until they shall amount to thirty-one, according to the increase in the House of Representatives.

SEC. 3. The meetings for the election of Senators, shall be notified, held and regulated, and the votes received, sorted, counted, declared and recorded, in the same manner as those for Representatives. And fair copies of the list of votes shall be attested by the selectmen and town clerks of towns, and the assessors and clerks of plantations, and sealed up in open town and plantation meetings; and the town and plantation clerks respectively shall cause the same to be delivered into the Secretary's office thirty days at least before the first Wednesday of January. All other qualified electors living in places unincorporated, who shall be assessed to the support of the government by the assessors of an adjacent town, shall have the privilege of voting for Senators, Representatives and Governor in such town; and shall be notified by the selectmen thereof for that purpose accordingly.

SEC. 4. The Governor and Council shall, as soon as may be, examine the returned copies of such lists, and, twenty days before the said first Wednesday of January, issue a summons to such persons, as shall appear to be elected by a majority of the votes in each district, to attend that day and take their seats.

SEC. 5. The Senate shall, on the said first Wednesday of January, annually, determine who are elected by a majority of votes to be Senators in each district; and in case the full number of Senators to be elected from each district shall not have been so elected, the members of the House of Representatives, and such Senators as shall have been elected, shall, from the highest numbers of the persons voted for, on said lists, equal to twice the number of Senators deficient, in every district, if there be so many voted for, elect by joint ballot, the number of Senators required; and in this manner all vacancies in the Senate shall be supplied, as soon as may be, after such vacancies happen.

SEC. 6. The Senators shall be twenty-five years of age at the commencement of the term for which they are elected, and in all other respects their qualifications shall be the same as those of the Representatives.

SEC. 7. The Senate shall have full power to try all impeachments, and when setting for that purpose shall be on oath or affirmation, and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present. Their judgment, however, shall not extend farther than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold or enjoy any office of honor,

trust or profit under this State. But the party, whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment according to law.

SEC. 8. The Senate shall choose their President, Secretary and other officers.

ARTICLE IV. - Part Third.

LEGISLATIVE POWER.

SEC. 1. The Legislature shall convene on the first Wednesday of January annually, and shall have full power to make and establish all reasonable laws and regulations for the defence and benefit of the people of this State, not repugnant to this Constitution nor to that of the United States.

SEC. 2. Every bill or resolution, having the force of law, to which the concurrence of both Houses may be necessary, except on a question of adjournment, which shall have passed both Houses, shall be presented to the Governor, and if he approve, he shall sign it; if not, he shall return it with his objections to the House, in which it shall have originated, which shall enter the objections at large on its journals, and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass it, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall be reconsidered, and, if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall have the same effect, as if it had been signed by the Governor; but in all such cases, the votes of both Houses shall be taken by yeas and nays, and the names of the persons, voting for and against the bill or resolution, shall be entered on the journals of both Houses respectively. If the bill or resolution shall not be returned by the Governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, it shall have the same force and effect, as if he had signed it, unless the Legislature by their adjournment, prevent its return, in which case it shall have such force and effect, unless returned within three days after their next meeting.

SEC. 3. Each House shall be the judge of the elections and qualifications of its own members, and a majority shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penalties as each House shall provide.

SEC. 4. Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a second time for the same cause.

SEC. 5. Each House shall keep a journal, and from time to time publish its proceedings, except such parts as in their judgment may require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either House on any question, shall, at the desire of one fifth of those present, be entered on the journals.

SEC. 6. Each House, during its session, may punish by imprisonment any person not a member, for disrespectful or disorderly behavior in its presence, for obstructing any of its proceedings, threatening, assaulting or abusing any of its members for any thing said, done, or doing in either House: Provided, that no imprisonment shall extend beyond the period of the same session.

SEC. 7. The Senators and Representatives shall receive such compensation, as shall be established by law; but no law increasing their compensation shall take effect during the existence of the Legislature, which enacted it. The expenses of the members of the House of Representatives in travelling to the Legislature, and returning therefrom, once in each session and no more, shall be paid by the State out of the public Treasury to every member, who shall seasonably attend, in the judgment of the House, and does not depart therefrom without leave.

SEC. 8. The Senators and Representatives shall, in all cases except treason, felony or breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at, going to, and returning from each session of the Legislature, and no member shall be liable to answer for any thing spoken in debate in either House, in any court or place elsewhere.

SEC. 9. Bills, orders or resolutions, may originate in either House, and may be altered, amended or rejected in the other; but all bills for raising a revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments as in other cases; Provided, that they shall not, under color of amendment, introduce any new matter, which does not relate to raising a revenue.

SEC. 10. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected, be appointed to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall have been

created, or the emoluments of which increased during such term, except such offices as may be filled by elections by the people: Provided, that this prohibition shall not extend to the members of the first Legislature.

SEC. 11. No member of Congress, nor person holding any office under the United States, (post officers excepted,) nor office of profit under this State, Justices of the Peace, Notaries Public, Coroners and officers of the Militia excepted, shall have a seat in either House during his being such member of Congress, or his continuing in such office.

SEC. 12. Neither House shall during the session, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than two days, nor to any other place than that in which the Houses shall be sitting.

ARTICLE V.-Part First.

EXECUTIVE POWER.

SEC. 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a Governor.

SEC. 2. The Governor shall be elected by the qualified Electors, and shall hold his office one year from the first Wednesday of January in each year.

SEC. 3. The meetings for election of Governor shall be notified, held and regulated, and votes shall be received, sorted, counted, declared and recorded, in the same manner as those for Senators and Representatives. They shall be sealed and returned into the Secretary's office in the same manner, and at the same time, as those for Senators. And the Secretary of State for the time being shall, on the first Wednesday of January, then next, lay the lists before the Senate and House of Representatives to be by them examined, and, in case of a choice by a majority of all the votes returned, they shall declare and publish the same. But, if no person shall have a majority of votes, the House of Representatives shall, by ballot, from the persons having the four highest numbers of votes on the lists, if so many there be, elect two persons, and make return of their names to the Senate, of whom the Senate shall by ballot, elect one, who shall be declared the Governor.

SEC. 4. The Governor shall, at the commencement of his term, be not less than thirty years of age; a natural born citizen of the United States, have been five years, or from the adoption of this Constitution, a resident of the State; and at